“For sure we will not allow any such thing”.
Advertisement
SAUDI warplanes have been accused of “deliberately” striking Iran’s embassy in Yemen in an air raid that wounded staff, as Iran banned all Saudi Arabian imports. Now with the execution of al-Nimr, Shiite masses took to the streets of Bahrain and were again met with shots and water cannons.
Iran hit back Thursday by announcing a ban on imports from the kingdom, which will reportedly affect goods worth about US$40 million (RM176 million). “The Saudis are responsible for the damage they have caused to the embassy as well as to injuries to guards and personnel”.
For example, though the kingdom has stopped flights to and from Iran, Qatar’s national carrier has no plans to do the same.
The Iranians and the Saudis have been fighting a proxy war in Yemen since last March, with a Saudi-led coalition battling Shi’ite Houthi rebels who enjoy the support of Iran.
Yemen’s foreign ministry also denied the embassy building had been targeted, according to the Saudi-allied, government-run state news agency, sabanew.net. Kuwait recalled its ambassador to Tehran on Tuesday, while the United Arab Emirates has partially downgraded diplomatic relations.
A spokesman for the Saudi coalition said the bombing was meant to target Houthi missile launchers and that they would investigate the claim.
The safety of foreign diplomatic missions was a responsibility of host countries; therefore, the attacks against Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran and Consulate in Mashhad could not be explained and accepted, added the statement.
Advertisement
Zarif said that from the first days of President Hassan Rouhani’s election, both he and the president have sent public and private signals to Saudi Arabia “about our readiness to engage in dialogue and accommodation to promote regional stability and combat destabilizing extremist violence”. But local residents and an Associated Press reporter on the ground say that while dozens of new airstrikes fell on Sanaa today (Jan. 7), there is no visible damage to the embassy’s building. Some 500,000 Iranians visit Saudi Arabia every year, many of whom are making the “lesser” pilgrimage or umrah to Mecca and Medina, which can be made at any time of the year.
